The Los Angeles Dodgers have long been built on strong starting pitching, and that should hold particularly true this season with a rotation led by three Cy Young Award winners.
Although the Dodgers have yet to begin their Cactus League slate, manager Dave Roberts was already asked if the team had an Opening Day starter in mind. “We don’t,” he said. I do expect that announcement to be sooner than later.
“We’re still talking through some things. I do know we’ve got a lot of viable candidates for Opening Day.”
The Dodgers begin the 2021 regular season April 1 against the Colorado Rockies for the start of a four-game series at Coors Field.
Should tradition hold, the Dodgers will hand the ball to Clayton Kershaw in their season opener. If that is the case, the left-hander would make his franchise-record ninth start on Opening Day, but first since 2018.
Kershaw was unable to start the opener in 2019 due to a shoulder injury that landed him on the 10-day injured list, and he was placed on the IL hours before first pitch on Opening Day last year because of back trouble.
The Dodgers are 7-1 in Kershaw’s Opening Day starts, with their lone loss coming to the San Francisco Giants in 2018. Kershaw personally is 5-1 with a 1.05 ERA and 59 strikeouts across 51.2 innings pitched in those games.
If not Kershaw, the Dodgers have another viable option in Walker Buehler. Many have anointed him the new ace of the staff, though Buehler has consistently said that title belongs to Kershaw for however long he is with the team.
Of course, there is also the option of going with newcomer and reigning Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer. He signed the Dodgers during the offseason on a record-setting three-year, $102 million contract.
Buehler nor Bauer have started on Opening Day in their respective careers.
Another conceivable candidate for L.A. is going with David Price, who is poised to play in his first season with the team after opting out of 2020 due to concerns with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Price called it a difficult decision, but said re-joining the team this year was essentially a no-brainer.
The veteran left-hander last started on Opening Day in 2016 for the Boston Red Sox. It was Price’s fifth career start and fourth straight in a season opener, and still stands as his most recent.
May eyeing Dodgers Opening Day rotation
Roberts has not publicly committed to a fifth starter, but the Dodgers reportedly intend for Julio Urias to complete the rotation. Such a decision would bump Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May to Triple-A Oklahoma City or the bullpen.
But with a decision still not set, May has set a goal of being part of the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation.
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